Best First Meal in Buenos Aires

 

On the advice of my stellar colleague Kristin Donnelly at F&W, we had our first dinner in Buenos Aires at Standard, and it was the perfect introduction to the country. Cheesy, flaky empanadas and braised beef croquetas started off our meal, but the clear winner of the night was a dish better suited to breakfast than dinner: gran revuelta gramajo, a mix of house-made sausage, jamón, cheese and eggs, topped with ultra-thin fried potato strings. (It even beat out the “12-hours ribs,” which looked like something out of The Flintstones.) But my favorite Argentinean meal was a lunch at La Cabrera, where we shared cheese cooked on the grill (dangerous) and bacon-wrapped steak and pork (lethal). The best part was the amazing array of sides, from mustard-seed-spiked mashed potatoes and sweet poached pears to creamy lentils.